Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
“Wooo! Go Ben!!!" I yelled at the top of my lungs as Ben received a pass on the left flank of the soccer field and was dribbling toward the goal. It was about twenty minutes into the first half of the game, and we were already up one to nothing on a goal from Knox (annoyingly).
Ben dribbled past the opposing team's defender and shot the ball hard into the lower left corner of the goal.
The goalkeeper dove for it, but he was no match for the speed and accuracy of Ben's shot.
The ball sailed in, and the crowd was on its feet, cheering wildly.
Ben careened around the field and ran out to the corner where a bunch of his teammates jumped on him in celebration.
I could make out Blake and Tyson in the man-pile, too.
"Fuck yes! That's my brother!" I was shouting like a crazy person.
Harriet, Clare, Jaime, and Vivi all sat around me.
All of us except Clare were in our party clothes.
Vivi had on a bright yellow dress with cute wedge sandals, and her long brown hair was curled in ringlets that bounced around her face as she jumped and cheered for Ben's goal.
Jaime looked dapper in his navy polo and pressed slacks.
Harriet had borrowed my leopard print miniskirt (which was not quite as mini on her), which she'd pulled over a tight black bodysuit with a high neck and long sleeves.
She had her towering Mary Jane heels on with black tights.
I'd argued for just wearing my denim shorts and tank top from work, but Harriet forced me into (gasp) a dress, arguing that I wanted to knock Blake's socks off and pre-pay him for putting up with all of Knox's bullshit by "looking fine.
" So I was wearing a black sleeveless skater dress with a high collar and scalloped edges that slanted over my collarbones.
The little skirt flared out just to mid-thigh, and I'd refused heels, so I had my purple high-top Vans on.
I went heavy on the eyeliner and added some shimmer to my lids, and my lip stain was cherry red.
Harriet had also convinced me to wear my thick blonde hair down, which she'd refreshed from my shift at work with dry shampoo and soft waves.
A look around the crowd in the student section showed a good majority of them were party-ready, anxious to get there straight after the game and lose themselves in the debauchery of a prep school party.
Thad was nearby, sitting in a group with the Alphawhores, some of the other popular wolves who usually sat at the Elite table, and a group of human athletes that included Matt, Lukas, and Damien.
He was impeccably dressed in a light grey button-down shirt with fitted dark slacks and blinding bright white sneakers.
His hair was styled and his glasses were perched on his nose.
He was watching Ben run all over the field, and I wondered if tonight would be the night whatever was going on with them finally exploded.
The game wore on. I saw Blake chase down the strikers from the opposing team, stealing the ball from them and effectively feeding it up to Mason, who was in the center midfield role, or up to the front to Knox, Ben, or the other striker for our team.
He moved effortlessly and was very fast for such a big guy, just like the wolves on the team.
Tyson mopped up in the back for the few players that broke through our defensive line.
As the referee blew the final whistle, Blackstone Academy won the game four to zero, with two goals from Knox, one from Ben, and one from Mason on a penalty kick.
The crowd stood and cheered boisterously as the players ran in a line across the field to clap for the fans.
I caught Blake looking my way, and I gave him a big, obnoxious thumbs up. He just grinned and shook his head.
We trudged out to the parking lot after the game to wait for Blake and Ben to shower and dress for the party.
Other students were already quickly piling into cars and headed out toward the north side of town.
Our group, sans Clare, had congregated next to the line of parked cars that included our Tesla, Harriet's Miata, and Blake's BMW.
I stepped away from our cluster to head to my car to fiddle with the Spotify station streaming from my speakers and through the open windows.
I was bent over the driver's seat, scrolling on the car’s touch screen to the song "Monsters" by All Time Low when I felt a large hand caress my ass and run down the back of my bare thigh.
I grinned, and my heart started to thunder with excitement.
"Hey, baby," I purred, as I stood and turned to face my man.
Only it wasn't Blake standing before me.
It was Knox who had just put his hands on my body like he had every right to.
I froze in shock and horror as he stood in front of me, smirking.
He was freshly showered and dressed to kill in a tight gray Henley and fitted black jeans.
His white-blond hair had been styled into his signature faux-hawk, and his icy blue eyes leered at me as he ran them up and down my body.
"Hey yourself," he said, reaching for my hips. I slapped his hands away.
"What in the ever-loving fuck do you think you're doing?" I said with as much disgust as I could muster. "Don't you ever put your fucking hands on me like that again, Ice Man, or I'll break your face so you can match your girlfriend."
He just continued to crowd me up against my car. He put both hands on either side of my head against the driver's side door.
"Tsk, come on now, babe, don't be like that," he said in a low voice. The rest of my friends had not seen him sneak over here, apparently, since the music was loud and they were all the way over between Harriet and Blake's cars.
No one was coming to my rescue.
Not that I needed it.
"I want you to come to the party with me tonight," he went on.
"I just broke it off with Nikka, and I think it should be you on my arm and in my bed tonight.
Let me make it up to you for that whole thing in Gym on the first day of school.
" He leaned in further to nuzzle at my neck and take a great big whiff of my scent.
I took exactly one and a half seconds to recover from the shock of his being here and having the audacity to say any of this, as well as the deluge of hurt and longing that suddenly swirled in my chest—the bond stirring to life with a painful snap.
Then I jammed both hands into his massive chest and shoved him back as hard as I could.
He stumbled back a few steps, having been knocked off balance, but he continued to tower over me in my personal space.
"Back the FUCK up!" I shouted.
"Mave, what's...." Harriet appeared at the back of the car, and she trailed off when she saw Knox and me facing off.
"You don't need to keep acting like you don't want to take me for a ride, babe," Knox continued, still smirking, and still standing entirely too close to me.
"I'm offering you the chance. Give into the bond.
You know it'll feel so good." He purred those last words in his low baritone, and I felt him push a little Alpha power at me.
Not a full onslaught to force submission, but just enough to touch me—to entice.
I wasn't about to get into a wolf power battle with him in the student parking lot of our school, but I pushed just enough of my own power out to create a wall against his.
He wouldn't have felt it, but it prevented his from touching my wolf and confusing her into wanting to go to him, even for a minute.
"Newsflash, Ice Man," I spat between gritted teeth, looking him straight in his cold eyes.
"The bond is dead. You killed it, and then I killed it right back.
It's nothing but a rotting piece of filth inside my soul.
This is not an act—you truly fucking disgust me, and I will never, ever let you touch me.
Now, step the fuck out of my personal space before I send you to this party with missing teeth. "
I felt two large bodies slide into the space on either side of me.
I was still holding Knox's stare, but I could instantly tell that one of the bodies belonged to Ben.
The one on my right was almost certainly Blake, given the smell and the pleasant tingle I was beginning to feel counteracting the sickness of the bond that had become heavy in the last five minutes.
Neither of them stepped in front of me. Blake caught on early, and Ben had always known, that I didn't need anyone to fight my battles for me.
Knox had dropped the cocky smirk and finally looked pissed off. He broke eye contact with me to glare at Blake, then over at Ben for good measure.
"I see your bodyguards are here," he spat.
"Come on, Ice Man." It was my turn to smirk. "You know I'm their bodyguard."
"This isn't a fucking game anymore, Mave," he hissed at me.
"Stop denying it. You'll eventually cave to the pull and the craving, and you'll regret making this harder on yourself.
I'm going to make you beg for me." Then he leaned in to speak into my ear, but it was loud enough that Ben and Blake would be able to hear.
He growled, "You know a human can't fuck you like I can. "
Blake finally lost control and started to take a step forward. I saw Ben do the same out of the corner of my eye.
"Alright, you disgusting, arrogant piece of shit—" Blake started, but I looped my arm around his waist and pulled him into my side. Ben's forward movement had been halted by the sudden appearance of Thad and Mason, who were both looking more worried than cocky.
"Baby, ignore him," I cooed at Blake. He relaxed against my side and turned to smile down at me. He pressed a lingering kiss to my temple while I turned back to glare at Knox.
"What I do know, Ice Man, is that this 'human'"—I threw some exaggerated air quotes up since to their knowledge Blake thought we were all humans—"fucked me into a coma last night.
He has also treated me with respect and kindness since the day that I met him.
He's mine now. You'll need to get over it. "
"Hey, man," Mason stepped in and put a hand on Knox's shoulder. "This isn't really the place; people are starting to stare. Let's just head to the party."
I looked around the lot. The smattering of students who hadn't already hightailed it to the party were lingering casually around their cars, pretending to not be watching our little showdown. Harriet, Tyson, Matt, Vivi, and Jaime were all a few feet away, looking worried.
Knox was still seething at Blake for the moment, and Thad had stepped into Ben’s space to block him from getting any closer to Knox. They both looked about three seconds from a full-on brawl.
"That is a great idea, Man Bun," I said, grabbing Blake's hand and pulling him toward his car. "See you guys there!" I shouted cheerfully over my shoulder.
Mason and Tyson had both stepped in to separate Ben and Thad. Knox stalked off toward Elite parking, his lapdogs trailing after him. I waved to Ben, who'd recovered enough to smile and start gathering our friends—and Matt apparently—into the Tesla.
Blake and I slid into the front of his car while Tyson hopped in the back.
"Well, that was intense," he remarked from the backseat. "Shit, Mave, I don't know why you have his attention like that, but he’s a scary motherfucker and you're giving it right back to him like a badass bitch."
"Thanks, buddy," I replied, slumping down in my seat. The whole exchange had drained me a bit. "He's just not used to girls not throwing themselves onto his dick when he snaps his fingers, so he's a little salty about being turned down."
Blake was quiet, knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel tight. I reached over and rubbed his thigh clad in my favorite tight, ripped black jeans. He had gone full bad boy this evening with a leather jacket and dark purple V-neck T-shirt. His tattoos peeked at me from under his collar.
He glanced over at me and sighed. "Sorry I almost lost it back there. I know you don't need a white knight, and it really does turn me on to watch you put people in their place, but he's being really fucking vile, and it is pissing me off."
"I know.” I sighed, too, then muddled over the frenzy of thoughts tossing around in my mind.
I knew that there was at least a chance Blake knew what was really going on, so I decided I was going to roll the dice and confirm it. "Let's try to forget his bullshit and have fun tonight. Tomorrow, do you want to hang out so we can maybe... talk?"
He smiled then. "Yeah, definitely." He finally relaxed his grip on the wheel and reached over to caress my thigh under the hem of my dress. "I haven't even gotten the chance to tell you how fucking amazing you look. I'm about to just drop Tyson off at the party and then take you somewhere private."
“Yeah, fucking get it, dude," I heard from behind me.
"Shut up, man, be polite."
"Hey, Mave," Tyson turned his attention to me. "Can you maybe put in a good word for me with Harriet? She was sure looking edible this evening."
I laughed. Finally some levity.
"Sure thing, dude. You're welcome, by the way, because that's my skirt she's wearing."
"Mmm, well then thank you, Mave."
The mood for the rest of the drive to Jackson French's country house was lighter as we bantered about nothing, and Tyson had me giving him tips for wooing Harriet.
We pulled into a grass field next to all of the other parked cars after driving down a hundred-yard gravel road, and I ogled the huge ranch house at the end of the drive.
Students lingered in the front yard and on the massive porch, and we heard laughing and shrieking echo in the still night air.
The faint beat of music could be heard pulsing from the open front door.
Another Blackstone Academy party. I braced myself for the bullshit, and the three of us marched inside.